Geothermal and Solar Recovery Act Funding - Close but no Cigar

The Administration is trying to publicize funding for Geothermal and Solar Recovery Act Funding projects: So far, it is putting the funds in the hands of government, not business, and these institutions are inceted to make the programs last as long as possible, not to be profitbale. When I Read these Funding Opportunities, it seems to me that 16 of the 18 opportunities are for research and development or demonstrations of technology we already know works.

• Yes, we will learn new things
• Yes, contractors who put up the demonstrations will earn money for the one project; maybe they will even get more contracts.
• Yes Solar manufacturing plants, even thinfilm plants will be built

It is a hit near the target, but sorry sir, no cigar.

Geothermal

A Geothermal mapping program is a good idea, but lets generate some economy NOW by granting energy companies money to build plants in the places we already know they will work, like they Texas Gulf Coast, Northern California. Make them pay the money back over the next 2o years, putting the money back into a fund to pay for the next generation of research.

Then, after the EMS Technology Emerges the geothermal wells can be built there as well. Don't worry, we will need ALL the energy.

Solar

We can't make solar energy cost effective by simply ramping up manufacturing of today's solar panels. PV technology is about to move from the model T to the Ferrari ( or at least the Mustang) stage. We shouldn't ramp up the Model T production line.

What we can do today is give more and better direct-to-consumer incentives for putting the stuff we have out now. The solar industry can then stay alive until the new technology rolls out.

I don't mind buying the Model T today if I can get it cheap. and It will still get me to the store and back in the future, and at least I will learn how to drive a car before the Ferrari gets here.

Let's put the money out there into ongoing, production that will produce energy for 20 years, not into the hands of institutions who are not, by nature, inceted to produce economy.

-Editor

Here is the DOE Article

Recovery Act Announcement: President Obama Announces Over $467 Million in Recovery Act Funding for Geothermal and Solar Energy Projects
May 27, 2009

President Obama today announced over $467 million from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to expand and accelerate the development, deployment, and use of geothermal and solar energy throughout the United States.

The funding announced today represents a substantial down payment that will help the solar and geothermal industries overcome technical barriers, demonstrate new technologies, and provide support for clean energy jobs for years to come.

Today's announcement supports the Obama Administration's strategy to increase American economic competiveness, while supporting jobs and moving toward a clean energy economy.
"We have a choice. We can remain the world's leading importer of oil, or we can become the world's leading exporter of clean energy," said President Obama. "We can hand over the jobs of the future to our competitors, or we can confront what they have already recognized as the great opportunity of our time: the nation that leads the world in creating new sources of clean energy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. That's the nation I want America to be."

"We have an ambitious agenda to put millions of people to work by investing in clean energy technology like solar and geothermal energy," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said. "These technologies represent two pieces of a broad energy portfolio that will help us aggressively fight climate change and renew our position as a global leader in clean energy jobs."

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is a clean source of renewable energy that harnesses heat from the Earth for heating applications and electricity generation; geothermal plants can operate around the clock to provide significant uninterrupted "base load" electricity, or the minimum amount a power utility must provide to its customers.

• The Recovery Act makes a $350 million new investment in this technology, dwarfing previous government commitments.

Recovery Act funding will support projects in four crucial areas: geothermal demonstration projects;

1. Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) research and development;
2. innovative exploration techniques;
3. A National Geothermal Data System,
4. Resource Assessment and Classification System.

Geothermal Demonstration Projects ($140 Million)

• Funding will support demonstrations of cutting-edge technologies to advance geothermal energy in new geographic areas, as well as geothermal energy production from oil and natural gas fields, geopressured fields, and low to moderate temperature geothermal resources.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems Technology Research and Development ($80 Million)

• Funding will support research of EGS technology to allow geothermal power generation across the country.
• Conventional geothermal energy systems must be located near easily-accessible geothermal water resources, limiting its nationwide use.
• EGS makes use of available heat resources through engineered reservoirs, which can then be tapped to produce electricity.

While the long-term goal of EGS is to generate cost competitive clean electricity, enabling research and development is needed to demonstrate the technology's readiness in the near-term.

Innovative Exploration Techniques ($100 Million)

• Funding will support projects that include exploration, siting, drilling, and characterization of a series of exploration wells utilizing innovative exploration techniques.
• Exploration of geothermal energy resources can carry a high upfront risk. By investing in and validating innovative exploration technologies and methods, DOE can help reduce the level of upfront risk for the private sector, allowing for increased investment and discovery of new geothermal resources.

National Geothermal Data System, Resource Assessment, and Classification System ($30 Million)

• The long-term success of geothermal energy technologies depends upon a detailed characterization of geothermal energy resources nationwide.
• In 2008, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) conducted an assessment of high temperature resource potential in the Western United States.
• To fully leverage new low-temperature, geopressured, co-production, and EGS technologies, DOE will support a nationwide assessment of geothermal resources, working through the USGS and other partners.
• Second, DOE will support the development of a nationwide data system to make resource data available to academia, researchers, and the private sector.
• Finally, DOE will support the development of a geothermal resource classification system for use in determining site potential.

Solar Energy

• Solar energy is a rapidly expanding industry with a double-digit annual growth rate in the United States. DOE is focused on supporting the U.S. industry's scaling up of manufacturing, production, and distribution so the technology can become cost competitive with conventional sources of energy.
• DOE will provide $117.6 million in Recovery Act funding to accelerate widespread commercialization of clean solar energy technologies across America.
• These activities will leverage partnerships that include DOE's national laboratories, universities, local government, and the private sector, to strengthen the U.S. solar industry and make it a leader in international markets.

Photovoltaic Technology Development ($51.5 Million)

• DOE will expand investment in advanced photovoltaic concepts and high impact technologies, with the aim of making solar energy cost-competitive with conventional sources of electricity and to strengthen the competitiveness and capabilities of domestic manufacturers.

Solar Energy Deployment ($40.5 Million)

• Projects in this area will focus on non-technical barriers to solar energy deployment, including grid connection, market barriers to solar energy adoption in cities, and the shortage of trained solar energy installers.
• Combined with new technology development, these deployment activities will help clear the path for wider adoption of solar energy in residential, commercial, and municipal environments.

Concentrating Solar Power Research and Development ($25.6 Million)

• This work will focus on improving the reliability of concentrating solar power technologies and enhancing the capabilities of DOE National Laboratories to provide test and evaluation support to the solar industry.

For information on these and other Funding Opportunities under the Recovery Act, visit the U.S. Department of Energy's Recovery And Reinvestment Act page on Funding Opportunities.

The Rest from Energy Efficiecny and Renewsbel Energy, Department of Energy ( DOE )

ORMAT's 10k Report Summary

EDGAR Online via COMTEX) --

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this annual report including information with respect to our plans and strategies for our business, statements regarding the industry outlook, our expectations regarding the future performance of our business, and the other non-historical statements contained herein are forward-looking statements. See "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements". You should also review Item 1A - "Risk Factors" for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described herein or implied by such forward-looking statements.

We are a leading vertically integrated company engaged in the geothermal and recovered energy power business.

• We design, develop, build, own, and operate clean, environmentally friendly geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants, in most cases using equipment that we design and manufacture.
• Our geothermal power plants include both power plants that we have built and power plants that we have acquired, while all of our recovered energy-based plants have been constructed by us.

We conduct our business activities in two business segments, which we refer to as our Electricity Segment and Products Segment.

• In our Electricity Segment, we develop, build, own, and operate geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants in the United States and geothermal power plants in other countries around the world and sell the electricity they generate.
• In our Products Segment, we design, manufacture and sell equipment for geothermal and recovered energy-based electricity generation, remote power units and other power generating units and provide services relating to the engineering, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance of geothermal and recovered energy power plants.

Both our Electricity Segment and Products Segment operations are conducted in the United States and throughout the world.

Our current generating portfolio includes geothermal plants in

• the United States,
• Guatemala,
• Kenya,
• Nicaragua
• New Zealand,

as well as recovered energy generation (REG) plants in the United States.

During the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007, our U.S. power plants generated

• 2,266,422 MWh and
• 1,994,263 MWh, respectively.
  

For the year ended December 31, 2008, our Electricity Segment represented approximately 73.2% of our total revenues, while our Products Segment represented approximately 26.8% of our total revenues during such year.
For the year ended December 31, 2008, our total revenues increased by 16.5% (from $296.0 million to $344.8 million) over the previous year. Revenues from the Electricity Segment increased by 16.8%, while revenues from the Products Segment increased by 15.8%.

For the year ended December 31, 2008, total Electricity Segment revenues from the sale of electricity by our consolidated power plants were

• $252.3 million, as compared to $216.0 for the year ended December 31, 2007.
• In addition, revenues from our 50% ownership of the Mammoth Project were $9.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2008.

This additional data is a Non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (Non-GAAP) financial measure as defined by the SEC. There is no comparable GAAP measure.

Management believes that such Non-GAAP data is useful to the readers as it provides a more complete view on the scope of the activities of the power plants that we operate. Our investment in the Mammoth project is accounted for in our consolidated financial statements under the equity method and the revenues are not included in our consolidated revenues for the year ended December 31, 2008.

For the year ended December 31, 2008, revenues attributable to our Products Segment were $92.6 million, as compared to $80.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2007, an increase of 15.8%. Most of the increase in revenues was derived from two large geothermal projects, the Blue Mountain project in Nevada and the Centennial Binary Plant in New Zealand.

See Full Article @ MarketWatch.com

How to assess a Potential Geothermal Resource

I found this article @ Renewable Energy World

Very useful for qualifying potential generation sites

-Editor

by Karl Gawell

Q: I live near a geothermal hot spring. Does that mean that there are geothermal power resources underground? How do I go about finding out? -- John from Moscow, Idaho
A:
Hi John. Thanks for your inquiry. I wish I could take a look at the spring. I came across one on a mesa just off a bike trail in the desert in New Mexico, and it was quite a beautiful sight. There was boiling water on the surface and all kinds of mineral deposits in and around the spring with patches of different colors. The best answer I can give you to the first part of your question is a definite maybe. I would say that the chances are pretty good that you live near a geothermal resource. However, whether or not it is a resource that could be used for electrical power would require further exploration. For a geothermal power resource you really need three things: 1. Hot water (do you happen to know the temperature of the spring?) 2. Permeability in the rock, and 3. Both of these attributes at a depth that is economically reachable. To find out if your spring sits atop a resource with those attributes, there are a number of places you can look.

Websites such as

• www.navdat.org,
• www.earthchem.org,
• www.inl.gov/geosciences/seismicnetwork.shtml,
• http://earth.google.com/,
• http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/,

list public data or images regarding the chemistry of rocks, temperatures at the bottom of numerous drill holes, seismicity, or changes in surface geology. There is almost certainly data available for your area. However, even with all this great information, you still might not know if your spring sits upon an exploitable resource.

The full article

Geothermal Map, Texas

Geothermal Energy Band Map Texas

ORMAT

ORMAT

Ormat Technologies, Inc, (NYSE: "ORA") is a leading vertically integrated company dedicated to providing solutions for geothermal power, recovered energy generation (REG) and remote power.

Innovative, Powerful Technology Solutions Most of Ormat's products and business activities are based on its original Ormat Energy Converter (OEC), a field-proven technology for utilization of low and medium temperature heat sources.Ormat is the world leader in Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power systems.

• Geothermal Power
  Ormat offers complete solutions for geothermal power.
  more
  
• Recovered Energy Generation
  Ormat offers proven Recovered Energy Generation (REG) options for applications including exhaust gas from compressor stations along interstate pipelines, midstream gas processing facilities and other energy-intensive processing industries such as cement production.
  more
  
• Remote Power Units
  Ormat offers field proven and highly reliable Ormat Energy Converters (OEC), which are Closed Cycle Vapor Turbogenerators (CCVT) with capacities ranging between 200 and 4500 Watt for unattended operation.